A couple of weeks back I told you about cottage life and the terrible effect it has on my back and posture. Then last week I told you about how cottage life was messing with my resting heart rate. In spite of that, last week I headed up for a week’s vacation.
Cottage Life
I said I expected expect to spend a lot of time:
- in the sun, which I did,
- in the lake, which I did,
- fishing, which I did (my 6 y/o caught 16 fish on Wednesday, plus a crawfish…he said I had to write that),
- making campfires and roasting marshmallows, which I did,
- and generally relaxing with my family, which (and stop me if you’ve heard this) I did.
In addition, my long-suffering wife made me get up and run every day, except for 1 rest day, and this morning (it was too bloody hot)
As much as I love the place, the cottage is terribly stressful on my body. The beds are old and sucky, the furniture is wicker from the 40s. Seriously, we still have my grandfather’s waiting room furniture, and he died in 1950. The entertainments are not exactly spine healthy and the food tends to be vegetarian unfriendly. Fortunately, I’m not a vegetarian, but still, with the heat, the cooking tends to be all barbecued.
Fortunately, the flip side to all that is that the place is incredibly relaxing for my mind and soul. I told you I was looking forward with fascination to learning the results of these competing forces.
Would I come home a wreck?
Would I come home rested and recharged?
Well, to borrow from Grandpa Simpson, the answer is, a little from Column A, and a little from Column B.
Column A?
I’m exhausted. If I didn’t have a streak to continue here, I’d probably not be typing this. My back and neck hurt, I had intermittent headaches from the overly hard beds with overly soft pillows. I forgot my glucosamine and knee braces, so my arthritis is giving me fits. I got a touch of sunburn, and a bit dehydrated.
Column B?
I got serious research done on my upcoming course. I’ve signed up for two joint ventures, one selling Mirasee programs, the other selling Learnistic mobile apps. There will be more, much more, on those later. And best of all, when the running, and relaxation, kicked into full mode, my resting heart rate (which had been tracking up all last week) dropped 4 bpm in just 2 days.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Time off work is exhausting; I need to get back to work just so I can get some rest. As for now? It’s time for bed.
